Rethinking Benchmarks for Cross-modal Image-text Retrieval

Image-text retrieval, as a fundamental and important branch of information retrieval, has attracted extensive research attentions. The main challenge of this task is cross-modal semantic understanding and matching. Some recent works focus more on fine-grained cross-modal semantic matching. With the prevalence of large scale multimodal pretraining models, several state-of-the-art models (e.g. X-VLM) have achieved near-perfect performance on widely-used image-text retrieval benchmarks, i.e. MSCOCO-Test-5K and Flickr30K-Test-1K. In this paper, we review the two common benchmarks and observe that they are insufficient to assess the true capability of models on fine-grained cross-modal semantic matching. The reason is that a large amount of images and texts in the benchmarks are coarse-grained. Based on the observation, we renovate the coarse-grained images and texts in the old benchmarks and establish the improved benchmarks called MSCOCO-FG and Flickr30K-FG. Specifically, on the image side, we enlarge the original image pool by adopting more similar images. On the text side, we propose a novel semi-automatic renovation approach to refine coarse-grained sentences into finer-grained ones with little human effort. Furthermore, we evaluate representative image-text retrieval models on our new benchmarks to demonstrate the effectiveness of our method. We also analyze the capability of models on fine-grained semantic comprehension through extensive experiments. The results show that even the state-of-the-art models have much room for improvement in fine-grained semantic understanding, especially in distinguishing attributes of close objects in images. Our code and improved benchmark datasets are publicly available at: https://github.com/cwj1412/MSCOCO-Flikcr30K_FG, which we hope will inspire further in-depth research on cross-modal retrieval.Comment: Accepted to SIGIR202

Fertility loss: negative effects of environmental toxicants on oogenesis

There has been a global decline in fertility rates, with ovulatory disorders emerging as the leading cause, contributing to a global lifetime infertility prevalence of 17.5%. Formation of the primordial follicle pool during early and further development of oocytes after puberty is crucial in determining female fertility and reproductive quality. However, the increasing exposure to environmental toxins (through occupational exposure and ubiquitous chemicals) in daily life is a growing concern; these toxins have been identified as significant risk factors for oogenesis in women. In light of this concern, this review aims to enhance our understanding of female reproductive system diseases and their implications. Specifically, we summarized and categorized the environmental toxins that can affect oogenesis. Here, we provide an overview of oogenesis, highlighting specific stages that may be susceptible to the influence of environmental toxins. Furthermore, we discuss the genetic and molecular mechanisms by which various environmental toxins, including metals, cigarette smoke, and agricultural and industrial toxins, affect female oogenesis. Raising awareness about the potential risks associated with toxin exposure is crucial. However, further research is needed to fully comprehend the mechanisms underlying these effects, including the identification of biomarkers to assess exposure levels and predict reproductive outcomes. By providing a comprehensive overview, this review aims to contribute to a better understanding of the impact of environmental toxins on female oogenesis and guide future research in this field

Pogostemon cablin essential oil affects anxiety- and depressive-like behaviors and the gut microbiota in chronic unpredictable mild stress model rats

The gut microbiota is thought to be an important factor that influences brain processes and behaviors through the gut–brain axis. Pogostemon cablin is used in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) to treat gastrointestinal symptoms. Patchouli essential oil (PCO), the main active agent in P. cablin, is used in aromatherapy for stress relief. The aim of our study was to investigate the effects of orally administered PCO on anxiety- and depressive-like behaviors and the gut microbiota. We constructed a rat model of chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) and explored the anxiolytic- and antidepressant-like effects of PCO using the open field test (OFT) and forced swim test (FST). Changes in the abundance of the gut microbiota, short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), and other related molecules were assessed to determine the role of the gut microbiota. Our results showed that CUMS induced an anxiety-like phenotype in the OFT, which was reversed by PCO, and that PCO also significantly mitigated the depression-like behaviors caused by CUMS in the FST. Furthermore, we found that PCO increased the relative abundances of several probiotics, including Bacteroides and Blautia, and decreased the relative abundances of Ruminococcus_1 and Ruminococcus_2, which were increased by CUMS. Regarding SCFAs, the metabolites of the gut microbiota, PCO increased the concentration of propionic acid and decreased that of caproic acid. Finally, PCO restored the serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) level in the hippocampus, which had been decreased by CUMS. The results of this study suggested that PCO can improve stress-related anxiety- and depression-like behaviors and might exert its effects on the central nervous system through interactions with the gut microbiota

Factors affecting perceived health benefits and use behaviors in urban green spaces during the COVID-19 pandemic in southern China megacities

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has alienated people from urban green spaces (UGSs) that have various health outcomes for humans. However, little is known about the influential factors of perceived health benefits and use behaviors in UGSs during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aims to explore the key factors that influence perceived health benefits and use behaviors in UGSs and to assess the mediating role of place attachment in relationships during the COVID-19 pandemic in Chinese megacities. Methods: We conducted an online questionnaire survey from December 2020 to March 2021 in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, China. Six multiple regression models were constructed to investigate the main factors by which UGSs influence citizens' perceived health benefits and use behaviors. Four mediation models were established using the structural equation modeling (SEM) method to explore the mediating effect of place attachment. Results: A total of 628 questionnaires were included in the analysis. The results revealed that some UGS components (green space access, maintenance, and soundscape) significantly affected perceived health benefits for citizens (physical, mental, and social health) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Conversely, use behaviors (frequency of visits, duration of visits, and activity intensity) were mainly affected by the sociodemographic context but less affected by UGS components. In addition, UGS components were found to significantly predict place attachment, which in turn influenced the perceived health benefits, frequency, and duration of visits. Conclusions: This study distinguished the key factors that affect perceived health benefits and use behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic: green space access, maintenance, soundscape, and sociodemographic characteristics. Place attachment still needs to be considered when discussing how to encourage citizens to visit UGSs during the pandemic. These findings provide implications for policymakers and landscape planners regarding design and management measures for UGSs that are conducive to coping with pandemics

Present Geothermal Field and Roadway Heat Damage Characteristics in Zhujidong Coal Mine Area of Huainan City, Anhui Province, China

With the normalization of deep mining, the problem of mine thermal damage has been widely concerned. In this paper, 64 logging temperature data of surface boreholes of Zhujidong coalfield in Huainan City, Anhui Province, China, were summarized and sorted. The temperature data of 12 measuring points at the current main working level of −906 m and −965 m were measured. The ground temperature conditions of the vertical direction, horizontal direction, and main coal seam floor in the coalfield were analyzed. The characteristics of the present geothermal field and roadway heat damage, and its influencing factors were discussed. The results showed that the geothermal gradients of this area are between 1.7 ℃/hm and 3.6 ℃/hm, and the average geothermal gradient is 2.607 ℃/hm. It shows the transmission of warming in the vertical direction and horizontal direction shows the ground temperature lowering from south to north, east to west. The geothermal field in this area is mainly affected by the geological structure, and the thermal physical properties of rocks, magmatic rocks and groundwater activities also have a certain effect. At present, most of the main work level has reached the first heat hazard area, and some are in the second heat hazard area, according to Chinese regulations. The working face temperature is keeping above 28 7 ℃ and the relative humidity is being maintained above 70% for a long time. The problem of heat damage is extremely serious. It is suggested to construct the thermal environment control measures combining active and passive ways

Carbonation Resistance Performance and Micro-Structure Analysis of Glazed Hollow Bead Insulation Concrete

In this paper, the carbonation depths of glazed hollow bead insulation concrete (GHBC) and normal concrete (NC) at different carbonation ages are tested. The microstructure of GHBC and NC before and after carbonation were observed and compared by mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP), energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The results showed that NC had better carbonation resistance than GHBC, and GHBC had a carbonation depth of 1.61 times than that of NC at 28 days accelerated carbonation experiment. The microstructural analysis showed that with the decrease of porosity of the samples, the carbon content and CaCO3 content increased after carbonation. The porosity of NC decreased from 14.36% to 13.53%, the carbon content increased from 4.42% to 5.94%, and the CaCO3 content increased from 18.5% to 56.0%. The porosity of GHBC decreased from 22.94% to 20.71%, the carbon content increased from 4.97% to 5.31%, and the CaCO3 content increased from 70.0% to 82.0%. The above results showed that carbon reacts with hydration products 3CaO·SiO2, 2CaO·SiO2, and Ca(OH)2 to produce a large amount of CaCO3 which causes a large amount of pores to be filled and refined hence the porosity and pore size were reduced leading to increase in the compactness of the material. From the results obtained, the carbonation depth prediction formula of glazed hollow bead insulation concrete was developed, and carbonation life was predicted

Fatigue Performance of Rubber Concrete in Hygrothermal Environment

It is widely accepted that the rubber concrete (RC) originating from waste is a promising material that can contribute to the conservation and rational use of natural resources and the protection of the environment. However, the fatigue performance in a hygrothermal environment is a major concern because little pertinent information is available in the relevant literature. In this study, a cyclic loading test was carried out on RC subjected to different wet-dry cycles at different temperatures. The loading strain, plastic strain, and elastic strain of the concrete were compared and analyzed. The results revealed that the loading strain and plastic strain of the RC were obvious after the 1st loading cycle. As the number of loading cycles increased, the stress-strain curve became denser and the RC exhibited good elasticity. As the wet-dry cycles increased, the average plastic strain in the 10th–60th loading cycle increased while the elastic strain decreased. After 28 wet-dry cycles, the average plastic strain at 60°C increased by 42.31% compared with 20°C. In fact, as the temperature became higher, the plastic damage incurred by the RC became more severe. Finally, the damage variable was defined based on the elastic modulus and plastic strain to evaluate the fatigue performance of the RC in a hygrothermal environment. The findings of this study can provide a useful reference for RC applications

An Experimental Study of Portland Cement and Superfine Cement Slurry Grouting in Loose Sand and Sandy Soil

Grouting technology is widely applied in the fields of geotechnical engineering in infrastructure. Loose sand and sandy soil are common poor soils in tunnel and foundation treatments. It is necessary to use superfine cement slurry grouting in the micro-cracks of soil. The different effectiveness of Portland cement slurry and superfine cement slurry in sandy soil by the laboratory grouting experiment method were presented in this paper. The grouting situations of superfine cement slurry injected into sand and sandy soil were explored. The investigated parameters were the dry density, wet density, moisture content, internal friction angle, and cohesion force. The results show that the consolidation effect of superfine cement is better than that of Portland cement due to the small size of superfine cement particles. The superfine cement can diffuse into the sand by infiltration, extrusion, and splitting. When the water–cement ratio of superfine cement slurry is less than 2:1 grouting into loose sand, the dry and wet density decrease with the increase in the water–cement ratio, while the moisture content and cohesive force gradually increase. When the water–cement ratio of superfine cement slurry is 1:1 grouting into loose sand and sandy soil, the dry density, wet density, and cohesive force of loose sand are larger than those of sandy soil. The results of the experiment may be relevant for engineering applications

Orthogonal Experiment Study on Mechanical Properties of Hybrid Fibre Reinforced Shale Ceramisite Concrete

The slump, cube compressive strength and splitting tensile strength tests of 9 groups of hybrid fiber reinforced shale ceramisite concrete (HFSC) and 1 group of C30 reference concrete were conducted by orthogonal experimental method. The effects of shale ceramisite volume replacement, basalt fiber volume fraction and polypropylene fiber volume fraction on the mechanical properties of HFSC were investigated. The results show that the splitting tensile strength and tension-compression ratio of concrete can be significantly improved by adding fiber, which plays a positive hybrid effect. The maximum increase in the tensile strength of concrete by basalt fiber and polypropylene fiber is 57.33% and 58.19% respectively, while the influence of compressive strength was small. Shale ceramisite significantly reduces the compressive and tensile strength of concrete. When the replacement increases from 0% to 15%, the compressive strength of HFSC decreases by 19.98%, while the tensile strength has underwent an iterative process of increasing and decreasing due to the fiber reinforcement effect. All three factors reduced the slump of concrete mixture. The shale ceramisite and basalt fiber have significant influence, and polypropylene fiber has a greater impact. The influence mechanism of three factors on mechanical properties of HFSC was revealed.The prediction models of cube compressive strength and splitting tensile strength of HFSC were obtained, and the accuracy of model is high

Research and development of fully enclosed wire-shell support structure technology for deep soft rock roadway based on TRIZ theory

Abstract The TRIZ theory was used to accurately discover the problems to be solved in the design of roadway surrounding rock control technology. This paper tried to solve the complex issue of surrounding rock control in deep roadways from a new perspective. Based on the functional component analysis and causal axis analysis of the problem’s primary reason, simultaneously, the surrounding rock control technology was optimized through technical contradiction analysis, physical contradiction analysis, and substance and field model analysis. As a result, a fully enclosed wire-shell support technology was proposed. Finally, taking the typical soft rock roadway engineering of Pansan Coal Mine in Huainan Mining Area, Anhui Province, China, as the engineering background, the engineering application and effect evaluation were completed. This paper provides a reference for controlling the instability of deep soft rock roadways in coal mines. A new idea of optimizing roadway support engineering based on TRIZ theory was proposed